Annual increases of up to 25% have become standard for indefinite leave to remain applications. Higher costs put more significant pressure on immigrants: the total costs of the process can now be over £8,000.
The Home Office gets a lot of income from these costs. For example, an ILR (indefinite leave to remain) application costs £2,389. However, the true cost of processing it is just £243, so there’s a huge profit on each application. The Times reported last year on how immigration fees produced a £500 million surplus for the Home Office in one year.
Visa Costs Froze In 2019
Visa and nationality application costs remained mostly unchanged in 2019. There were small increases to some visas, such as the UK visitor visa which went up by 3%, affecting the short-term six-month visa, student visas, business visas and longer-term visas. However, this is still less of an increase than in the past.
The Home Office says its surplus can’t be described as ‘profit’ because the money all goes back into immigration services and border control. Still, since 2002, visa and nationality application costs rose exponentially, putting even more financial pressure on non-EEA citizens arriving in the UK.
Scarsdale Solicitors – Manchester, Rochdale and Oldham
Have you been unable to understand the process and procedures you need to follow to apply to stay in the UK to live and work? We have experts that can guide you through the forms and identity checks and help you understand how to stay in the UK permanently. For advice on immigration issues, call Scarsdale Solicitors Rochdale, Scarsdale Solicitors Oldham and Scarsdale Solicitors Manchester. If you need the help of Rochdale immigration solicitors, Oldham immigration solicitors and Manchester Immigration solicitors, call today on 0161 660 6050.
